In the darkness of an infinite abyss, a light twinkled.

“Awaken Outworlder,” A voice commanded, one that held no warmth of familiarity yet was still familiar to Ark as he drifted in the endless expanse.

“Awaken yee who would grasp the coattails of a divine being’s grace.”

“AWAKEN!”

Ark’s eyes snapped open at the command, coming face to face with a woman with black wings sitting upon a gold rock in a vast empty expanse.

“IRIELEX!” Ark roared, rushing toward his archfoe with his fist raised, only to phase right through the phoenix and land on the purple cloud beneath his feet that constituted a ground.

“Cease your outbursts,”

“You! I killed you!” Ark spat with fury, turning to face the Great Enslaver who merely glanced at him with indifference before shifting her golden gaze to her onyx talons.

“And yet, I remain,” Ireliex replied coldly.

Ark picked himself off the ground, extending his hand as Ireliex raised a neatly trimmed brow.

“COME! BELLROG!” Ark roared, ordering his demonic blade to him. Even in the face of such a being, he wouldn’t back down, not when the enemy of all of humanity stood gazing down upon him with her golden eyes. That look, that damnable gaze that viewed him as nothing more than a bug. An insignificant being that was little more than a mote of dust.

One way or another, he’d wipe it from her face.

A moment passed, then another, with no sign of his screaming blade. In fact, as Ark stood there wondering what was going on he realized he couldn't feel the weapon at all, or anything for that matter.

“What magecraft is this?!” Ark demanded, furrowing his brow as he glared at the Empress of all phoenixs.

“Funny. I was going to ask you the same,” The raven-haired woman raised a brow as she tapped her black lips with her onyx-colored talon, adopting a look of deep thought. “Interesting…”

Ark looked around, taking stock of his surroundings and looking for any signs of his companions, any sign of a way to…

“Huhlk,” Ark let out, his vision pulsing as the events of his death flashed before his eyes. Everything that had happened, his decapitation of Ireliex, his poisoning, and…

The glimmering metal of Roland’s holy sword in Lilana’s chest.

“Ro…” Ark growled, his body trembling, his fingers twitching as they curled, the very space around him shaking as if responding to his rage.

“Roland. ROLAND. ROLAND!!!!!!” Ark screamed, his voice laced with rage, filled with grief as the world around him quaked. He grabbed his head, pulling at his blonde hair as he fell to his knees.

“Liliana… Liliana why? Why her? Whywhy! You bastards, YOUdamnbastards!” Ark whispered, grief taking hold of him as he recalled his body being skewered and his friends…

Friends...

“Why?” Ark asked to no one as he stared blankly at the floor, hugging his body as he remembered the feeling of dozens of spears piercing his body. "Why?!"

“Because it is in your nature,” Ireliex offered, drawing Ark’s ire. “You monkeys have always betrayed one another in pursuit of power. Frankly, humanity’s only redeeming quality is your greed and rodent tenacity to strive for that which is outside your means.”

“Shut up…” Ark growled.

“Oh? Are you angry?

‘I SAID SHUT UP!” Ark roared, causing the Empress to snicker.

‘Cute.”

“Tell me phoenix, what is the meaning of this?” Ark demanded, gesturing out to the darkness that surrounded the pair.

“First you want me to be quiet, now you wish me to answer. Well…” Ireliex flicked her gaze at the man who walked to stand before her before she shifted her eyes back to her talons. “Which is it?”

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

“Speak you damn overgrown bird,” Ark growled.

Ireliex laughed at the warrior’s demand, her golden eyes lighting up with amusement as she shifted a hand to cover her mouth. “I am the Empress of all phoenix kind, the progenitor of an entire species. I’m a bit more than just a… bird.”

“No. You are a bird. A fat, overgrown, disgusting creature that only feeds on the suffering of mankind. The Great Enslaver, The Destroyer, Mother of all phoenixs,” Ark said as he began walking up the steps, drawing close to the monument Ireliex lounged upon. “For thousands of years you kept humanity under your thumb, and for thousands of years they suffered as your slaves. Toiling with no liberties, no freedoms, living in fear of you and your kind as you feed upon us like cattle.”

The phoenix rolled her eyes as Ark approached, standing in front of the indifferent woman in her raven dress.

“So answer me you foul terror of mankind before I gouge out your tongue and rip out your eyes,” Ark hissed, his rage barely contained. “I killed you. So. What. Is. Going. On.”

‘Are you done Outworlder?” Ireliex replied.

Ark growled.

“Good boy,” Ireliex said, speaking to Ark as if he were a pet. “First off, I have been the only thing keeping you lot from dying. If you think I was terrible, you should meet the other guardians of our world."

Ark blinked, furrowing his brow at the notion of worse things than Ireliex.

“Secondly, I’m an immortal soul. My vessel can be destroyed, but not my soul, I’ll always come back, how do you think I reigned for so long? Did you really think a pathetic life form such as yourself could fell a goddess when so many others have failed?” Ireliex smirked, causing Ark to go wide-eyed. “You should feel honored that.… hmm?”

Ireliex stopped mid-sentence, blinking as her eyes dulled in their color with her form suddenly shrinking.

Something was wrong, the void beginning to flicker with images, pictures of scenes Ark both recognized and didn't.

His eyes averted, looking over to the strings of memories playing out all around him. Scenes of his adventures, scenes of his battles, his life, his first time with Liliana before the battle with Ireliex, and then… his death.

These were his memories.

“Fascinating!” Ireliex suddenly shouted, grinning madly. “So that was your game! Ahahahahaha! Genius! GENIUS! Perhaps I gave your pathetic race too little credit! A human, using the body of a guardian to ascend? Ha!”

Ark was confused, unsure what was going on as the phoenix stood up, splaying her arms to the side and laughing with a madness in her eyes as the void around the pair shifted, twisting from a dark purple to a golden light as Ireliex unfurled her wings.

Suddenly the scenes shifted, revealing images unfamiliar to Ark.

“YOU!” Ireliex pointed at Ark, her face twisted with joy and madness. “You will be mine!”

“What?!” Ark furrowed his brow, taking a step back as the woman suddenly accosted him, grabbing his face with a deranged look in her eye. Ark attempted to pull away yet couldn’t, his punches and kicks merely phasing through the Mother of All phoenixes as she leaned in, bringing his face close as she clutched his chin.

"Do you wish for power?"

"What?" Ark replied, still attempting to get free.

"Do you wish for a second chance?"

Ark blinked, eyes wide at the implications.

"You mean resurrection?!" Adam exclaimed with eyes wide.

"Something like that, with my power sealed, and my corpse butchered, it seems my tether to this world has been... unbalanced," The phoenix grinned, licking her lips with her forked black tongue. “But you… you will be my new tether, and in turn, I will grant you a second chance.”

A second chance. If I had a second chance! I could save Liliana!

Ark blinked, clenching his jaw as the phoenix stared down at him and waited for a response.

"This is a trap."

"I assure you mortal, it is not." Ireliex replied, the void around them suddenly seeming to coalesce, creating walls that were beginning to crack. "What I offer is another chance. Not just to save yourself, but the world."

"What the hell is going on?!" Ark exclaimed, the walls beginning to break with blinding light flooding in.

"Your soul is dying," Ireliex said. "And consequently, so is mine since we are now one and the same. You poor pawn, a mere piece in someone else’s schemes. Use to strike a blow at your betters. I suppose even ants possess poison."

Ark's eyes narrowed, his bloodlust rising as he saw the glee in Roland's eyes clear as day in his mind.

"Phoenix," Ark began, accepting that he was making a deal with the devil. But nothing mattered if the love of his life was gone. "Give me your power."

"Excellent choice," Ireliex smiled, drawing Ark close, too close, the warmth of her body akin to an inferno against his skin.

"Wait! What are you doing?!" Ark demanded as Ireliex's mighty wings unfurled, moving until they encompassed all of Ark's body, drawing him close.

“Relax. I promise you’ll enjoy this,” Ireliex hissed, locking lips with Ark as the entire world exploded in brilliant light.